Schweiziska skattesmitardeals

Mycket spännande händer med skatteindrivningspolitiken i Europa i dessa dagar - Italien har en kampanj om att skattesmitare är "samhällets parasiter", och både Tyskland och Storbritannien har slutit överenskommelser med Schweiz om att driva in skatt från förmögna tyskar och britter som placerat sina pengar i schweiziska banker för att undkomma skatt i hemlandet.

Tyskland:

"Switzerland and Germany have reached a landmark tax agreement designed to clamp down on tax evasion by German residents with secret Swiss bank accounts.

The deal, which requires Swiss banks to make an advance payment of SFr2bn to the German tax authorities, will give Berlin income from hitherto undeclared accounts at Swiss banks, while allowing those customers to retain their anonymity.

The accord is intended to meet Germany’s desire to close a big tax loophole, while fulfilling Switzerland’s determination to preserve client confidentiality."

Haig Simonian in Zurich and Quentin Peel, "Switzerland agrees tax deal with Berlin", FT 11 aug

Storbriannien:

"The UK and Swiss governments have reached a landmark deal to tax undeclared Swiss bank accounts in a deal hoped to yield as much as £5bn ($8.2bn) for the UK Exchequer.

The agreement, which comes into force in 2013, respects bank secrecy by preserving the anonymity of UK account holders – a key Swiss demand – and follows a similar accord reached with German authorities this month."

Haig Simonian & Norma Cohen, "Swiss tax deal to raise UK revenue", FT 24 aug